Alo the Warrior
by Qerta
Summary: Alo was a samurott who had everything he could ever want. However, after losing a duel to a bisharp, he left his home village out of shame. He was given a second chance but at a tremendous cost. (One-shot Pokemon Mystery Dungeon fable. Please leave critique.)


Before the rise of mystery dungeons, and before the era of peace we live in began, there lived a young samurott named Alo. He resided in a small village in a forest by some water rapids. Alo was a strong, handsome samurott, arguably the most skillful in the village. The wise made sure not to make him cross, and those who were foolish enough to do so met the sharp end of his seamitars. The village women fawned over him, and he always made sure to tip his helmet whenever he passed them. Alo had everything he could ever want, until one fateful day when it would all be stripped away.

It was a normal day like any other. Alo was busy helping to train some dewotts so they could one day defend the village like him. However, the training was interrupted when the village elder, another samurott, came up to him with an important message.

"Honorable and brave Alo," he greeted, "a bisharp from another village has come. He says he has heard about how powerful you are and wants to challenge you to a duel."

"A duel?" Alo smirked, "Is he right in the head? That is the last thing anyone should ask of me!"

The elder nodded in agreement, "Yes, I tried to warn him, but he's adamant about his decision. He won't leave until you face him."

"Very well." Alo replied, "I shall face this stranger and show him how a true warrior fights!" he left the dewotts, and made his way towards the village entrance.

Many pokemon gathered around and stared at the bisharp, his blades shimmered in the sunlight as he stood in wait for his opponent's arrival. He saw a samurott walking towards him, it was Alo. The bisharp smiled and closed the distance between them.

"You have finally arrived! It's not polite to keep a warrior waiting." the bisharp immediately took a battle stance.

Alo drew his blades, and took a stance as well as he sized up his opponent, "Too bad this duel will end quickly, I may actually enjoy fighting you."

Without any delay, the bisharp raised his blade and prepared to strike before Alo quickly parried and forced him back. The two circled each other, waiting for the other to make an opening for them to strike. For most of the battle, it was the same as Alo usually dealt with, one tries to strike, the other blocks and attempts to counter, both retreat back, and it repeats. The villagers watched in awe and fascination as the two pokemon fiercely battled, yet no one had gotten the upper hand.

This changed when the two decided to charge at each other. Their blades met and sparks flew as they both tried to push each other over. Alo gritted his teeth hoping the battle had caused his opponent to become weak.

The bisharp then landed a hard kick into Alo's leg. He stumbled, and before he could regain his balance, the bisharp quickly ran his blade up his chest and landed a powerful stab right in the cut. Alo's breath was knocked out of him, the pain from the blow was immense and he couldn't bring his blades up to fight back. The mighty samurott fell on his front as the bisharp backed out of the way.

There was silence as the crowd stared at Alo who was completely still on the ground. Some of the younger ones even burst into tears, and many of the women ran over to his aid.

The bisharp raised his blade into the sky, "The mighty Alo has been defeated!" he proclaimed, before turning to leave the village as Alo was quickly dragged to the healer's hut.

Days passed, Alo's wounds had recovered, but his pride had not. He wasn't the proud samurott he once was, all he could do was question how he lost a battle he should have won. Everyone tried to comfort him, but he was shaken and could not be consoled. The pain had gotten so bad he couldn't look anyone in the eyes anymore, the shame had pierced his heart and changed everything about him.

One day, the pain had gotten to be too much. He left the village in the quiet of night to train in the woods to make sure this would never happen again. The harsh wilderness should toughen him up enough so that maybe he could one day regain the dignity he believed he lost.

It wasn't long until he discovered something of interest. An old hut in the middle of the woods that appeared to be abandoned. Its wood was rotted and it appeared to be barely standing. The roof had many holes and an ominous sound was made whenever the wind blew through it. Despite how decrepit it was, he decided to take head inside, perhaps he could find something of interest he could use in his training.

When he entered, he could smell the stench of mold in the air. The hut seemed mostly empty, except for a fire pit and some swords hanging on the back wall. They had purple cloths on their handles and they were covered by ornate sheaths that had a face-like pattern on the top.

He walked over to them, took them off the wall, and removed the sheaths. They looked like fine steel blades, a little shorter than his seamitars though. He wondered who owned these and why they were left behind. Alo shrugged it off and was about to put them back on the wall.

An eye on each of the blades opened, and they tightly wrapped their ribbons around his neck. "You! Who are you!?" one of the blades yelled.

Alo struggled, but couldn't free himself. "Let me go!"

"Tell us who you are and maybe we'll consider it!" the other blade replied.

Without many options left, he complied, "I'm Alo from the nearby village! Now release me!" he ordered.

The blades let go of his neck and then proceeded to interrogate him. "Explain why you're trespassing here!" the first blade shouted.

"I found this hut and I was curious about what was inside. Now, if you will refrain from assaulting me again, I will leave you alone."

"Really now?" the first blade asked, "Why are you wandering around the woods anyway? You must have a reason."

"I do not have to answer to you!"

The blades chocked Alo again and were forcing him to talk.

"Alright! I lost a duel to a bisharp and now I'm trying to reclaim my dignity!"

The blades let go of him again, "Ah! So you were looking for something after all! I could sense that you lost something important to you." the first blade commented.

"Yes yes, I could as well. It was quite obvious." the second blade chimed in.

"Now, will you let me leave in peace?" Alo asked.

The blades looked at each other and came up with an idea. A dastardly, horrid idea. "You said you lost a duel, correct?"

"Why is that important to you?" Alo sneered at both of them.

"Well, as you can see we're not ordinary swords." the first one laid its ribbon on its shoulder, "You look like a fine warrior, so capable and strong. We'd love to help someone like you."

"Yes yes, of course, we would!" the second one hovered close to his face, "We've been looking for someone worthy enough to wield us!"

"Our desires seem to match up quite well, don't they?" the first blade tightened its grip on his shoulder.

Alo thought for a moment, "Are you suggesting I duel the bisharp again, but use you two instead of my seamitars?"

"Ah! You're so bright as well!" the first blade gleefully praised, "You'll be perfect!"

"Hmm." Alo considered what they were saying, and after some thought, he decided it would be worth it to let them help. "As long as you don't choke me again, I accept your offer."

"Splendid!" the first blade exclaimed, "Let's not waste any more time!"

With the two blades in hand, Alo headed back to the village. Everyone was happy to see him again and they noticed his new blades, however before they could ask about them, he went right down to business. He asked for someone to go to the bisharp's village and say he wanted another duel, and that this time he will win. The elder reluctantly agreed, and someone was sent out that same day.

Two days later, the bisharp arrived at the village again and the crowd already had formed. Alo was there to greet him. "You really want to be shamed again?" the bisharp asked.

"It's not going your way this time!" Alo proclaimed, "The only one that will be shamed is you!"

They battled once again, and it played out like last time. The two parried each other's attacks over and over, trying to find some form of opening. They charged and their blades clashed once again as they tried to push the other over.

The bisharp noticed Alo's leg was open again and was about to kick it like last time. As he was preparing to kick, the first blade noticed and wrapped its ribbon around the bisharp's leg. The audience, swept up in the action, did not notice this.

"W-What!?" the bisharp cried, as he tried to break free, he tripped and landed on his back. Alo took this opportunity and quickly pinned him with his foot, and pinned his arms to the ground using the blades.

The bisharp without any way to retaliate had no other choice but to surrender. "I submit." he grimaced as Alo got off of his opponent and raised his blades high in the air. The crowd cheered and clapped, showering Alo with praise. The bisharp got up and stormed off the way he came.

The fanfare soon died down, and night came. Alo headed back to his hut with both of his new swords in hand, "I'm grateful for how much you've helped me."

"Oh, it was nothing." the first blade replied.

"Yes yes, of course!" the second blade chimed in.

Alo lied down on his hay pile and soon fell asleep after the long day he had. The blades looked at each other, "Now we can begin!" the first blade snickered.

"This is what we've been waiting for! It's been so long since we could feed off such a lively creature!" both blades wrapped their ribbons around Alo's arms, and a soft glow radiated from them.

The next morning, Alo woke up and went outside. He felt a little weaker than usual, but he thought it was probably just from yesterday's duel. He walked over to the elder's hut to get his assignment for the day. When the elder saw him, he noticed how pale Alo looked.

"Alo, you don't look very good. Are you ill?" he asked.

"I don't feel sick, just a little weak that's all," Alo replied.

"I see. I hope you feel better soon. You should rest for today, that battle must have taken a lot out of you."

Alo sighed, "Fine." he reluctantly headed back to his hut.

The next day, he felt even worse. He could barely get out of bed, and when he finally did, he couldn't walk right and could only manage to stumble around. Alo knew something was wrong, so he headed towards the healer's hut.

A chansey walked out and noticed Alo's poor appearance. "Alo! What has happened to you!?"

"I... don't know. Please... cure me..." he said, as the chansey assisted him into her hut.

The chansey tried all the herbal remedies she knew, however, none of them seemed to be working. "Alo, you're seriously ill."

"What... can you... do then?" he could barely get his words out.

"Head back to your hut, I'll try to come up with something. Please, make sure to get plenty of rest."

Alo with the chansey's assistance was delivered back to his hut to get some more rest. He lied down on the hay alongside his two new swords.

"You don't look so good." the first blade observed.

"I think you should take a nap, that should help." the second blade suggested.

Alo didn't bother to answer. He collapsed onto the pile of hay, and when he fell asleep again the blades wrapped their ribbons around his arms to feed once more.

The next day, no one saw Alo come out of his hut. Figuring that something was terribly wrong, the chansey went over to see him. She called his name from outside hoping for a reply. There was none. With no other choice, she slowly walked inside. She let out an ear-piercing scream that had the power to shake the heavens above. The chansey quickly ran to the elder's hut to tell him what she saw.

The chansey and elder returned to Alo's hut, and the elder was shocked at the sight. Alo was on the hay pile, his entire body was a ghostly white and he was completely unresponsive, the talking blades were also gone as if they had vanished into thin air.

He fell on his knees, "...Alo... no..." he tried to hold back tears as his mouth quivered. "Why Arceus? Why him?"

"Maybe he's still with us." the chansey said, clinging on to whatever hope she had left. She slowly walked up to Alo, and opened one of his eyelids.

His eyes were completely white.

A lesson to all who will heed it, do not let your desires cloud your common sense. Be wary of the dangers that could be present. Others will take advantage of your poor judgment, and you may end up like poor Alo.


End file.
